All Through the Night(Elsanna)
by APersonNamedEssex
Summary: In a place far far away, where war is a constant, Anna has lost all hope in seeking solace in this terribly cruel world. She's a Freelancer, usually hired by kings and Lords of the several Kingdoms on the continent, but when she is hired by none other than an Emporer, the unexpected happens. My own AU (alot of complex made up lore). Needs art! Suggestions, please?
1. Chapter 1

Anna awoke to the sound of thunder in the distance. Her eyes burned from her concentration in the battle that had taken place just hours before in this very meadow. She ran her fingers through the knee length grass she was now surrounded by, feeling as though she was in a dream. A sour, charred smell brought her out of her stupor.

 _Where am I?_

Her head throbbed as she rose to a sitting position, taking in her gruesome surroundings. A wave of pure fatigue sat in as her memory came back.

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 _A horn blared and men shouted. Thousands of men in front of her raised their swords and ran towards her. She does the same. The Legion behind her does as she does, clashing into the immense opposing force. The clanging of swords and spears on their opponent's shields was barely audible over the sound of her blood and adrenaline coursing in her ears. In front of her, a middle aged soldier raised his war axe above his head while one of his comrades, a younger boy, came in on her side swinging with his sword. Anna's mind slowed the scenario as she had been trained and dodged the axe making the younger soldier run into it, falling to the ground. The Axe wielder shifted the weapon in his hands swinging it from his hip towards Anna's midsection, who ran at the burly soldier with a war cry forcing him to the ground. Behind her, the young soldier had gotten up and was looking for his chance. Anna saw exactly what the young one was going to do immediately when he charged straight at her._

 _With her steel gauntlets, she knocked the sword out of her opponents hands, which visually stunned him, giving Anna her chance to knock the poor kid out with a swift punch to the temple. She'd almost forgotten about Axe Man when the big iron head scraped down her armored right arm and into the ground. She grabbed the head of the axe and quickly turned left prying the weapon from its holders hands, bringing it around with her body and into the side of Axe Man's head._

 _Nearby, a fellow soldier was outnumbered three to one._ Well that hardly seems fair. _She grabbed the previously occupied axe handle and wedged it out of its owner's corpse, and threw it sideways at two of the men taking one out immediately as it stuck into his side. The other was pushed into the ground when his comrades body slammed into him. The third had turned and came after Anna, who moved out of her attackers path, tripping him as he past. She didn't give the amateur soldier a chance to correct his mistake, bringing her iron clad boot straight down on his head. The fellow soldier had finished off the last enemy and had turned, giving Anna a nod of thanks._

 _They had fought side by side until a call was heard across the battlefield. "Archers!" a distant voice ordered. An instant later the sun was blacked out by a storm of arrows making Anna's comrade visibly shake with fear. She picked up a fallen's shield, friend or foe, she hadn't cared. There was a storm of arrows on its way, and she had been careless enough to not bring her shield. She raised it above her and the soldier, trying to cover as much of themselves as she could. The shield shook violently as the arrows struck. In the corner of his vision she saw the soldier jerk and drop his sword reaching for his stomach. As the last arrow fell, Anna threw the shield down and caught the falling soldier. Her surroundings blurred as she focused and broke off the arrow at where it had entered the poor young man's body. A shaky hand clasped her own and pulled her down to where a raspy, breathless voice spoke into her ear, "Thank you, Captain..-" a cough of blood came up and out of his mouth. He gritted his teeth, "-See you in Hell, huh?"_

 _She gave a little smirk at his remark and nodded the affirmative as she watched his eyes become glassy and his body become motionless._

 _The next five minutes were a blur of blood, sweat, tears, and steel and Anna had lost the inner battle she had been fighting within herself. She let the monster free and slaughtered any and all who had faced her, making the center of the field a semicircle of dead centered on her. To her left and right, her comrades pressed on fighting. To her front stood several hesitant enemies who were visually shaken by Anna's large body count and the thin splatter of blood that was across her face. With the war cries behind her, she ran straight at the soldiers in front of her with several allies following behind and beside her. Before she reached them, however, she was slammed into the ground hard by an unknown force. She looked up feeling nothing but curiosity from the invisible force that had hit her. There, just in front of her, a hooded figure stood, palm raised in her direction._

What royal asshole did they send this time?

 _As if on queue to answer her thought, the figure said "I am Tibris, King Chadra's Sorcerer. You are Anna The Soulless, yes?"_

 _Anna only smirked and stood up in an offensive stance, ready to attack at the right moment._

 _"Well, are you going to answer me, or am i just going to have to kill you like the rest of your pathetic legion?"_

 _When Anna didn't answer him the second time, the mage smirked and looked down, shaking his head slowly from side to side. In this brief moment, Anna had crossed the distance between the two nearly reaching her target when Tibris grabbed her by the throat._ He's good, but how good?

 _Anna brought her elbow down on Tibris's arm, making him lose his grip and causing his body to bend slightly forward and connect with Anna's hard hitting, metal covered knee. Anna reached down, grabbing a small blade out of a wrist sheath, plunging it into Tibris's neck. Gurgling and trembling, He slumped to the ground, a small portion of the knife's handle sticking out of his now bloody throat._

 _Anna looked up, Exhaustion from the past hours events swept over her and fatigue clouded her vision as she fell to her knees and then her surroundings turned blackness._

* * *

 _The battle.. Did we win?_

It was to dark tell if the bodies lying near her were friend or foe, but she knew there was too many to count. Exactly how many by her hands, she would never know. Flashes of lightning washed over the landscape briefly giving her images of the gruesome aftermath of what seemed to be a gruesome slaughter. Bodies were burning and the awful smelling smoke burned her nose every time she inhaled. Between the flashes, she caught sight of a figure a few yards away. It's skinny almost bony appearance sent chills down her spine. She quickly stood, grabbing her second sheathed wrist knife and backed away slowly. She knew she could take on hundreds of men.. but this was no man. Another flash revealed several hunched figures near the standing one. It seemed they were dead, but when she focused on one she saw it was.. trembling or shaking violently. After many flashes, two more figures stood by the first, blood covered their faces and strings of flesh hung from their showing teeth. After the last lightning bolt flashed, their heads snapped up at Anna staring her straight on with bright red eyes. Anna wasn't the type to freeze from fear, she was born a warrior and had been trained all her life to fight, kill, and win. On this occasion, however, her fight or flight instinct took over and her mind screamed at her to run and don't look back. And yet, she stood there frozen, peering back into those haunting red eyes staring right back at her.

She began backpedalling slowly and when the middle creature held out its arms and screeched the the most blood curdling noise she had ever heard, she turned and bolted into the woods near the meadow. The only thing carrying her and her heavy steel and iron armor through the woods was the pure adrenaline that was pulsing through her body.

 _Did i lose them? What the Hell were those things? The Legion has to be near here. There's no way we lost that battle with over five thousand men. Could we have?_

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 **A/N Okay, so this is a story i wrote when i was about 14 and it wasn't Elsanna, so if there's a he or him or her that i missed changing to a female version, let me know. My original(and still unfinished) story is on Wattpad if you wanna go check it out. it's the exact same except i replaced 'Rhen,' my own fictional character, with Anna. Elsa was already in the story though, except she was going to have a different name and all that haha. Anywho, thank you guys for the continued support for my other two stories. This will be my first AU, so please ask questions if you get confused about the lore and stuff i'm gonna be making up... and there's a lot of that, so be ready. So, favorite if you liked it, follow if you wanna get notified when i update, and also please leave a review! i wasn't sure about posting this and could use some criticism and/or motivation to update this story. And yes, I have to other stories as well, but ill be updating them more unless this one picks up traction.(hopefully! lol) Thanks Guys! and Gals!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Okay, so this is where a lot of the lore is. Really, ask questions if you wanna know something or just don't understand something. Thank you for sticking with this story. Annnd here comes the nerdgasms.. Enjoy!**

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The war that had been tearing the entire Continent of Magentium apart had costed millions their lives and continued to rage even after three centuries of all out warfare. The Continent was divided between a little over two hundred kingdoms who all had a common trait. Greed. And with this greed came men who would do anything to get what they want. The area Anna lived in was widely unsettled and secluded in the no man's land between the three factions, making his usual hit and run raid on war caravans and other military tradesman coming through this part of her province easy to get away with, even though the caravans she did hit were usually Nahti.

The Province of Idune was separated into 9 different kingdoms and monarchies. To the North and West, the English speaking Ami and Nuhns. To the East, a mix of English and Dutch speaking people known as Nahti resided mainly along the coast. And to the South, an Asian minority had found its way onto the map known as the Jachs. The Ami Kingdoms of Ashtyun, Bodisa, and Hardreach and the Nuhn Kingdoms of Firemount, and Zephyr were the dominating factions in the province with the one Jach kingdom, Ukati, being the most peaceful throughout its territory making it a prime target for the Nahti. The Nahti, a war loving and power hungry race, connected their three Kingdoms of Zuli, Figstrayt, and Gorga to create the Sovant Empire and shut their borders down to all from the outside. As time went on, however, the Nahti had built an army and started attacking across its border on all fronts of the other factions.

Three years later, the Ami and Nuhns joined forces just to hold the easternmost kingdom of Hardreach, the kingdom closest to the border that seem to ever be growing closer. The Nahti hadn't forgotten about the Jachs and invaded their territory with great ferocity and little regard for the villages, much less the people occupying them. The Ami/Nuhn Pact, known as the Sil Dreg Alliance, moved parts of their army they could spare into Ukati in order to fend off the invaders. Ukati was the center of the Jachs territory and also the center of trade, commerce, knowledge, military organization, and socialization. It soon fell to siege, being cut off from its Sil Dreg allies to the Northwest and Western directions.

To end the Siege of Ukati, the Alliance sent in a legion of five thousand specially bred and trained soldiers called The Wolf Pack. The Wolves stood over a foot taller than its Nahti opponents and had twice the muscle mass, making them supreme killing machines across the battlefield. But the Wolf Pack soldiers had something in them that the Nahti hadn't expected. An emotion, some called it; others simply deemed it to be a demon in men that was locked away until the holder called upon it. But what it really was was a tool for the soldier who bared it to use during his time of need that the Wolves called The Beast. It took over whatever the soldier had left and it didn't matter if he had lost an appendage, the thing inside would give him the strength to still fight until he had died. After the soldier had exhausted the energy of this unknown strength, they would typically black out or be too exhausted to move, bringing meaning to the title Wolf, as the wolf in nature will die fighting to the point of exhaustion.

The Wolf Pack ended the siege only losing close to forty of their own and killing nearly twenty times that. The Nahti were in full retreat after tales of of the Wolves spread from the frontlines reached their commanders in their capitol Kingdom of Figstrayt. With the Wolves and other Sil Dreg military returning to their home territory, the Jachs built their military to defensive standards and settled in for a long conflict. Over the next two hundred years, the Alliance had pushed the Nahti back to their Empire's capital, creating another two Wolf Pack Legions to keep the onslaught proceeding with full force.

The Wolves dominated the frontlines of battle, being sent on what would be suicide for the average Alliance soldier and making the enemy think twice about facing off. The Battle of Jasont, a large walled city on the Jach-Nahti border, took place not long after the Wolves had single handedly conquered the City-Kingdom of Gorga. Nahti commanders had seen what was about to happen and sent twenty thousand of their new conscripts and stationed them a few miles to the NorthEast of the now burning fallen city.

The battle lasted for three days, day and night. After losing over sixteen thousand, the Nahti retreated, leaving three and a half miles of blood, flesh, steel, bone, and ash behind. The Wolves, which had only had seven thousand at the battle had fought till only nine hundred seventy were left. Most to exhausted to even stand, others had blacked out on the field and were being carried back to a base camp just outside of the city. In the two years after the battle, all the surviving soldiers were sent back home to train the new bloods, who had just turned military age, in their newfound experience with combat and their use of The Beast, several becoming commanding officers in a newly formed third and fourth Wolf legion.

Anna remembered the Battle of Jasont vividly. She had nightmares about it, sometimes, but they weren't about the killing and slaughtering of other human beings. They were about the Dead Ones. The creatures she faced when she woke from the exhaustion The Beast had put on her. The Dead Ones were the most rare sight on a battlefield, only appearing during the night after a battle. Their boney, black silhouettes moving across the dead battlefield, eating the dead and slowly and painfully tearing away at the living until they bled out, screaming in agony. Ancient lore from the Azavi, an ancient lost civilization, showed them tearing apart bodies and carrying them to their dens where they slept until they sensed the hatred and anger from battle and awakening to repeat the process. Few had ever escaped them. Anna was lucky when she got away.

Anna was born into the Wolves. She had held her first real sword at the age of five and had her first kill, a Nahti captive, the day that she turned thirteen. Over the next four years, she was put through training only a Wolf could go through. The average man and woman just didn't have the muscle, senses, or enhanced focus it took to complete it. Even though she was shorter and not as brawn as the other Wolves, she didn't let it affect her, being the top of her training battalion. At the age of seventeen, she had been on the frontlines at the Siege of Gorga and later the Battle of Jasont, earning her her title as Captain of the third Wolf Pack Legion. Her training with The Beast and steadfast hold on the battlefield proved to be unmatched even by her more experienced comrades.

After the grueling training that she put the newbloods through, and had gotten some practice with bartering with the local merchants, she was offered a contract from Nuhn royals to be a guard and escort them through Nahti held territory to Ukati for a higher pay than she usually got in two months, with which she accepted immediately. The royals who had hired her spread her name to their associates and friends making her a go-to sword for hire in the province. The next two years in the legion were largely uneventful for her and as the mercenary contracts came, she began to enjoy the high profits. She resigned from the Legion and took up mercenary work, taking part in many battles with the Jachs, who hired her often, and scoring smaller target bounties along her way.

Anna built a small cottage to live in while she was between clients and collected her war treasures there in several secret compartments and stashes only the keenest of eyes could locate. She was known throughout the Province as a professional mercenary with no pity or remorse for her targets. The Nahti simply called her Anna The Soulless for her brutal tactics and uncaring manner throughout her short career. Now nineteen, he has a full mercenary career and a meeting coming up with a potential rich client.

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 **A/N i feel terrible about this chapter lol. It was from when i was fourteen, so bear with it! Remember if you have any questions just ask.. Also, if you think i should just stop this story right here, tell me, because im not even sure if this is that good.. As always, favorite if you liked it, follow if you wanna be notified when i update, and leave a review! Tell me how im doing, advice, what you think, etc. etc. Thanks guys! and Girls!**


	3. Chapter 3

Anna woke up just before dawn. She didn't like waking up early but she liked it more than waking up later than sunrise. Sven, her large German Shepard, was laying at the foot of her bed and he looked up at her with his ears back as he rose, stretching his body across the bed. Her eyes were glazed over and hands aching from yesterday's work in the forest helping an old farmer who had not had time to collect firewood before the coming winter. The farmer tried paying her, but Anna didn't accept it, so she bid the farmer good luck and went on her way home. After waking up and going to the bathroom, she had the only plumbing within a hundred miles, she went down to a creek and filled a bucket with water and then walked back to her house. The fire pit she had going the night before still had red embers glowing so she picked some dry grass along the edges of the pit and threw them on to the ashes and embers, blowing on it to keep the embers going until it started smoking.

She grabbed two pieces of firewood off of the stack by her house and put them on top of that with some more grass and tended to it until it was going steadily again. Getting her armor, chainmail, and blades from out of her chest inside, she put the bucket on top of the fire on a small wire rack she had made above it for cooking. When the water was boiling she took the bucket off and put the tip of her two swords into it along with her smaller wrist blades. After about ten minutes of letting them soak, she pulled them out and used an old piece of cloth to wipe the dried blood away, occasionally dipping it back into the bucket to get it wet again. After she was done she placed her chainmail into the still hot water and scrubbed it with a rough brush until she couldn't see the red tint on it anymore. She then placed that on a blanket that she had brought out next to her blades and grabbed the wet cloth and wiped down her pieces of armor. The blood and grime from her latest job was now gone and in its place shiny steel and iron with small, thick leather straps in places and her mark that she had attached on the right of her waist piece.

Her mark was a torn banner she had ripped from several flags whose holders she had fought against throughout her career sown together. Now it is several red, blue, and green diamond shapes in the center outlined with a longer white piece going down to her shin. She took pride in her winnings and sported them gracefully in this single patchworked cloth. Lying her armor on the blanket to dry with her other battle gear, she went inside and opened a small wood panel in her wall next to her bed. Stashed inside was the necklaces, jewelry, and other pieces she had gotten as rewards both in combat over opponents and from her hirers. Yet, she didn't really want to wear any of them today. She stared at them each in deep thought with a blank expression on her face, going through every second of how she had gotten all of the garments in her small stash. She didn't feel right about taking them, and yet in the moment she had, she had not cared. She hated her emotions at times and forced her self-empathy down in her gut.

Her morning bath and shave went by in a blur, as they usually did, and she put on a long pair of black trousers and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt on and, after making sure her fiery red hair was in her usual double pigtails, she moved to put on the now dry armor and blades on herself with little struggle thanks to the tempered leather. Sven came out and watched her as she loaded her dark brown and white paint horse with some food and jars of water for her trip into the kingdom of Hardreach. Her contracter was none other than the King himself, Titanis. In the letter given to her by a royal courier a week ago, there was little detail of what the intended objectives of Titanis were but the payout caught her attention. One hundred thousand in gold and several mentions of another prize that was unknown, but it had drawn Anna's attention none the less. She was told to meet the King at the Garne River near the Kingdom to work out the details and her payment would arrive to her house as she was sent on her way to her objective.

Sven didn't like it went Anna left, she knew that. So to keep him comfortable, she laid out several velvet-textured blankets in his little area of the house and deer meat that was already cooked outside in his feeding bowl. Sven wouldn't leave his house. He had been raised there and had lived there all his life. He was occasionally brought along with her to meet contractors who Anna felt might be a problem and other times to meet royalty and show him off, but Sven was loyal and would defend his home until he couldn't fight anymore, just as his master would do if it ever came to that.

Anna finished packing and got on the saddle and headed Northwest to meet the King at the mentioned spot. She came to a large oak tree and waited till she saw a small group of several small dots approaching. The portion of her red hair that was loose flowed into the wind, giving her the peace that she wished for during this meeting. The king, a medium height, plump man with a bushy white beard and polished-what looks like silver-armor, road on a white horse with his royal guard following close behind.

Both him and Anna dismounted their horses and Titanis made sure his guards were far enough away not to hear the ensuing conversation.

"Beautiful day, isn't it." The king stood by the oak admiring the rising sun. Anna regarded him from the corner of her eye, her sight flicking over his jeweled sword and then at his large disgusting form.

"We both know i'm not here to gape at the dawn." She said coldly over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the now golden sky.

Titanis shot her a glare, but she couldn't have cared less. Instead, she continued staring out at the horizon. She wasn't afraid of social status, and she probably never would be.

He stood silent for a moment. "Straight forward.. I like that." He paused, taking a moment and looking at Anna, who stares back. They both seemed to be sizing the other up, looking for weaknesses. "There is a Nahti family that just moved in the outskirts of Alliance borders. They are supposedly members of the royal family of the Emperor himself. I want them gone by any means necessary. Quick and painless, drawn out and bloody, i don't give a damn. I want them dead."

"Any description of the targets?" she questioned.

"They are living in a small mansion inside our border, to far i say, but I only know their names and how many. There are three girls, women or children i don't know-" Anna winced at the mention of children-"and two boys. I've sent a scout there and he will fill you in. As promised, the gold is being delivered to your homestead-" he turned and points to three wagons in the distance slowly moving farther away with what looked like several chests,"-and after you return, you will have your prize i mentioned in my letter. I'm sure you will quite like it." He reached into his saddlebag and retrieved a document and handed it to Anna with a quill. She read it and made sure she wasn't signing away her life and when she was satisfied with the terms, she signed it and handed it back.

"Pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine." The king said, sneering as he got back on his horse.

Anna nodded and got back on her's. As the two part, the king turns around and says,"Oh, and Milady?" Anna turned halfway around, only enough to acknowledge she was listening.

"When you do kill them, make sure there are no witnesses, hmm?"

Anna considered it and nods to the king as she turned back forward, bound for the Alliance-Nahti border. The word "children" never leaves her mind.

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 **A/N As i said in the previous chapter, i'm really not confident with this story right now since it was written so long ago and I've for sure improved since then, but if you guys like it, i'll definitely start working on it! anywho, this was kind of a boring chapter, i guess. Next one should pick it up a little. As always, fav if you liked it, follow if you wanna get notified when i update, and leave a review! i could always use a good review telling me you guys actually _want_ more of this and im not just pushing content out there. Thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

Anna sped through the countryside on her horse with no intentions of stopping. Her horse panted underneath her and she leaned down into her saddle, squinting her eyes to stop them from burning in the wind. The small white smoke signal that was meant for her was just barely visible in the distance near a forest with mostly evergreen trees enclosing an almost unnoticeable tent. She rode up to the camp site expecting to be greeted, but when none came she dismounted and went to kick out the fire. It showed their position, which meant that the targets could have easily saw this little observation post. She checked the tent and found the camps lone occupant sound asleep.

 _So this is the Alliance's elite scouts, huh? Pitiful._

She kicked the soldier's leg and watched as he scrambled out from under his blanket and got to his feet. The scout couldn't have been any older than 16. Anna looked down on him as she eyed the young scout.

"Are you the one King Titanis sent?" The scout said

"Yes."

"Anna is it? Heard a lot about you. Stories among the men back at Hardreach about how you are an absolute demon in battle." Anna glared at him."Oye, i didn't mean nothin' by it. Just wanted to say i'd rather have you by my side then those idiots. You're from the Wolves right? Born into it'n all." Anna slowly nodded yes and it seemed that her glare finally showed the young boy she didn't want to talk.

"Right." he grabbed a bag that was beside his tent and gave it to Anna,"Here's all the notes and routines I've observed of your targets and there some extra notes the King wanted me to give you. Your eyes only."

She took the bag and opened up the top. Inside there were several papers and scrolls stuffed into the small space. She closed it back and tied it onto her saddle horn.

"I'm gonna head off. His Majesty wanted me to return as soon as you had everything." the scout said as he grabbed for the cloth that made up his tent and proceeded in rolling it up and gathering the few things he had inside, stuffing most of it into a dark brown leather pack almost identical as the one he had given to Anna. He went behind a large tree and re-emerged riding a brown horse with a white stripe on its face. "Good luck."

Anna nodded and the scout turned away heading back West to Hardreach. Night had come upon the land, making her feel at ease. She thrived at night when the eyes of man no longer were a valuable asset. Now the only things that could save you were your gut instincts and your hearing.

She retrieved the bag and sat down on the log that was placed by the fire. She took out a hand-full of the papers and read the notes to herself.

 _Two females, one mid-height, platinum blonde, one tall with black hair. Three males, two soldier sized with brown hair and the other skinny with brown hair as well. Eight children, Two adolescents and six appearing to be below the age of thirteen._

Anna froze, shocked at the idea of murdering kids. She snapped out of it and looked at the "extra" information that was left for her. The small piece of paper had only a few lines, but those few lines made Anna feel like his heart cracked into two pieces.

 _Tie the adults up, slaughter the children in front of them. Doesn't matter how, just get it done._

 _How could someone be so devious, so hateful?, s_ he thought, _I am trained to kill soldiers and targets of royal importance to help my side win. I was never meant to kill innocent children._

She pulled out a map from the pack and studied it over. The scout had marked several positions overlooking the target's home. She brought her horse further into the wooded area heading to one of the spots.

Leaving her horse a good distance away, Anna crawled into place on a small cliff viewing the residence. The house was a two story cobblestone building with a planked roof and a small stable on this side of the house. She couldn't see anyone outside, but this was a great spot for covering, what Anna assumed was, the back of the house.

Just as she scooted away, the back door flew open and a woman in a dark blue long-sleeved dress with the lightest blonde hair Anna had seen in a single braid over one shoulder. Her breath caught at the woman's beauty and a knot had formed in her throat. _Wow.. She's beautiful._ She couldn't help but be entranced by her.

She scooted a little closer to the edge and watched with eyes that had become fixated on the blonde as the she went inside the stable and a few minutes later came out with a child following close behind her. The smell of cooking food was in the air and Anna assumed it was dinner being cooked for the family inside the house. As the woman and little girl that had long brunette hair and then went back inside the home and shut the door. The knot faded and Anna slipped away unseen and headed down the slope the position was on to get her horse and she grabbed the tied blanket off the back of her saddle. She headed back up the slope, careful not to slip on the mossy rocks that were scattered across the beaten path she used and made a carefully concealed shelter out of the evergreen branches she was able to gather. After tying up her horse a little further away from the original spot, she crawled into the tent shaped shelter and dozed off while she planned for her incursion that night.

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 **A/N First off, i wanna apologize for the several instances of him his and hes that are supposed to be shes and hers. i realize i confused a few of you with this mistake and i am sorry for that. As i said in the first chapter, this is an Elsanna version of a story i wrote when i was 14. I simply replaced the main character of that story (who was a male named 'Rhen') with Anna. So please, if you see any instances of this, please tell me so i can further better this story. i want all my stories at top quality for you guys, and finding out that i missed so much is just not good for me. I want the best. Also, I've updated all the chapters, replacing any of the instances of missused pronouns that i could find. as i said before, please tell me if you find any others. Anywho! back to the story! hope you guys liked it! fav if you did, follow if you wanna get notified when i update and a Review telling me how i did or giving some constructive criticism would be oh-so nice. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Okay, so this is the first chapter that It's me that's writing some of it. The first three paragraphs i wrote a long time ago, so everything after that is what i added on in present time. Every chapter after this will be present day me as well. This is the final chapter i have on Wattpad, so.. oh and i had gotten a few questions about the originality of this story and its AU. To answer those fully, yes i made EVERYTHING in this story up besides the characters of Elsa and Anna.. and yes i do mean everything. The world, the kingdoms, the lore, the people (besides the two aforementioned ones) are all from my head. I do realize that might make some think i'm lying because this does have lore that is pretty complex for one person to create, but if you'd like, you can go to Wattpad and search for 'APersonNamedRiver' and check out my story. It's all there. Anywho! Thank you guys for sticking with this story. Hope you enjoy!**

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Anna woke up early that morning to the sound of men yelling and horses charging. She quickly got up into her overlook on the small hill, wiping the sleep from her eyes. A group of soldiers, she couldn't see any crests or flags marking them, were approaching the house with torches and swords drawn. The back door flung open and the woman in the blue dress from yesterday ran out with the children whom Anna had read about and two other women behind them. The group of soldiers approached the house and each dismounted their horses.

They were talking to a large muscular man who had walked out of the house, followed by a smaller, but equally muscular, man. They talked for several moments until the soldier who was speaking dismounted, followed by the rest of his men, and stepped forward to the two. He raised his sword above his head and the group began to surround the two. The larger man was quick while he grabbed the hand that was raising the sword and head butted the soldier, sending him to the ground. The other soldiers, about eleven or twelve in all, rushed toward the two men who drew their swords in defense. At first it looked dire for the two, but after the first five went down in a bloody mess, the others grew hesitant and stood a safe distance away. The leader spoke something and then Anna saw a light on the path toward the house. Out of the woods came twenty or so more soldiers all rushing towards the two men. Anna knew they wouldn't last long and there was no way that she could save them. The women and children, however, she could do something about.

She quickly packed up her blanket and bag on her horse and ran down the cliff side towards where the women and children had gone. She couldn't see the women and children when she got to where they were, though, but she knew they had to be nearby. Running through the dark and foggy forest in the direction she saw them going, she searched until just before she got into a clearing. Anna squinted through the brush and trees and sure enough, on the other side of the meadow were the women and children she was looking for.

The platinum blonde that was leading the group with two children holding her hands had stopped them and were now crouched out of sight to anyone that would come this way. She was sat down on her knees, shushing one of the children as the other two women that were accompanying her looked around, paranoid and jumping slightly at every sound the forest made. Anna began crouch-walking over to them, using the foliage for cover to not be seen by them. She didn't want to spook them away because they had never seen her before. And yet...

"You. In the bushes. Come out now, hands where i can see them." she heard one of the women say. She felt as though she were a child sneaking cookies from the jar as she peeked just over a branch of the shrub she was behind, hoping that they weren't talking to her. But when she saw piercing cyan eyes looking straight at her, she new she had been caught.

 _So much for my sneaking abilities.._

She stood up and walked out into the open, making sure her hands were open, showing that she wasn't holding any weapons. A breeze blew in, making the leaves ruffle and shake and also several strands that had come loose from her pigtails during her sleep blew in the wind. The blonde's eyes were locked onto her the entire time and, for the first time in forever, she felt almost intimidated by a simple stare.

"You aren't wearing any crest i recognize. Who are you?" the blonde asked, whispering.

"M-My name is Anna." she said, stuttering when their eyes met and a feeling of unwarranted nervousness overtook her. Their eyes were locked, staring into eachother and what neither woman wanted to admit were the emotions both felt at the same time and yet, repressed them due to the situation. The blonde's eyes broke from their gaze and moved down Anna's tightly armored body. She felt them go down to her chest, slowing for a moment and then down her slim stomach, across her core and then down to her thighs, which were only clad in tight fitting leather. She swore she heard a gulp from the blonde. Anna saw her blink a few times and then her eyes moved back to Anna's.

"Well, don't just stand there in the open!" She said, waving Anna over to where they were. _Does she trust me?_ Anna thought as she awkwardly fumbled over to beside the blonde. "Im Elsa. Queen Elsa of Zephyr."

Anna looked at her like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. _I can't believe what i'm hearing!_ "Really? I was informed that you were Nahti," Anna looked at her, confusion dominating her facial features.

"Who in the world told you i was one of those.. those.. murderers?"

 _A King_ "It's nothing." Anna deadpanned. _That lying old bastard tricked me into assassinating a rival in the Alliance.. That smug pig!_

"No, tell me. I would like to know who is spying on me." Elsa said, frustration mounting in her voice.

"Okay, i will. But not yet. Let's get ou-" Anna was interrupted by a twig snapping in the direction of the house they had come from. Anna put her hand out, palm facing down, signaling the group to stay low. As she looked over the brush, she saw a small group of men, all of which held swords and were moving slowly and deliberately towards the edge of the forest where they were hid. They had little time before the soldiers were upon them.

Anna rose to a low standing position, "Come on!" Anna whispered as she started moving to a pile of brush just feet away. She stopped there, allowing them to catch up and looked forward for a escape route. At the other side of the meadow was a river where erosion had carved out a nice slope for them to escape behind. _That'll do._ Anna thought. _But how the hell are we gonna get over there without being seen by these men?!_

She looked over the brush again to check on the soldiers positions and almost panicked when she saw they were just coming into the clearing. She swiftly turned around to face Elsa, "You take them," she motioned towards the group with a slight head tilt," and skirt along the tree line as close as you can until you get to the riverbed. When you get spotted, and you _will_ get spotted, start running. I'll take care of the rest, okay?"

The Queen nodded 'yes' and turned to the four children first. "Okay younglings, we're gonna play a game. You all have to follow me and we're gonna stay in the trees until we get to the water over there-"

"Uhm," She started to panic, adrenaline quickly setting into her veins. "Elsa; i mean Queen Elsa. You've gotta go now!" Anna interrupted, whispering loudly.

"I am! Just be patient. Now follow me, little ones. When we get there, you win the game! just follow me though, okay?" the three oldest nodded, but the youngest, a little girl with raven black hair and cyan eyes stared at Elsa with wet eyes and her lip quivering.

"Hey," Anna said, kneeling beside her. "Everythings gonna be okay. Just follow blondie over here-" She received a glare from Elsa and a small crooked smile from the girl, "-and you'll be just fine! I promise." She smiled, reassuring the young girl, about five or six years old, that everything, in fact, would be okay. The girl nodded and moved to beside Elsa.

"On three.. ready?"

A quick and determined nod from Elsa.

"One,"

Another stick snapped from mere yards away.

"Two,"

The shine of a sword could be seen in the forest from where they were.

"Three!" The entire group stood up and bolted into the forest a few steps and then turned left slightly, heading for the riverbed. Anna, however, stayed behind and watched them move. The soldiers had just ran out into the open and looked around when they heard the leaves ruffling like footsteps, but when they got out into the clearing the wind picked up, making the trees ruffle their leaves. The sound reverberated throughout the meadow, confusing the soldiers from the noise they had just heard.

"It's just the bloody wind, you oaf!" one of the soldiers said, followed by a clank of metal on metal.

"I'm sorry! it really did sound like footsteps, though!" said another.

"Well, we might as we-"

"Oof!" a small noise came from Anna's right, where she presumed Elsa and the others were by now. She looked a little closer and saw that the girl with the raven black hair had fallen on one of the bushes that shielded the inner forest from view. _Oh no._ Anna thought as she looked out towards the soldiers who had seen the girl, too. _No.. no no no.._ She thought as she watched them start towards the girl.

Anna stood up and sprinted out of the foliage she was hiding in and stopped between the soldiers and the girl. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that she had already gotten up and ran along with the rest of the group. _Phew!... Alright,_ She pulled out her sword and stood in a defensive stance with it in front of her. _T_ _ime to see what these guys are made of._ In front of her stood the five or six men that had gone against the two men outside of the house just earlier and all were looking at her as if they knew what was coming. They all either sneered at her or chuckled to themselves as they started to pace towards her.

Instead of wait for them to come to her, she went at the men, sprinting toward the nearest one who had stopped and contorted his face into a look of confusion. Before he could react, however, Anna had came upon him. He raised his blade and brought it down, only to be blocked by Anna's, sending him back a few steps. She twirled around milliseconds after their blades had connected and brought the grip of the sword up to where it was horizontal and at her chest. As she turned, the entire upper part of the blade became engulfed in flesh and blood when it sliced through the man's body. When Anna came back up, she didn't look back when the soldier fell to his knees as a whole and then fell completely to the ground in two.

She moved on to the next, parrying his blade like the last, but instead brought it up in a stab. She used her steel gauntlet and knocked the blade to the left away from her and pushed the sword forward into his neck. Blood sprayed when she pulled it back out and bent her knees just slightly, twirling around half way and turning the blade backwards. She pushed it back into his stomach and then back out swiftly coming up and facing the other three soldiers that were staring on in stunned silence. They had all stopped and stood together when they saw how she had dealt with their comrades.

"It can't be.." the one standing to the left said, wide-eyed.

The one to Anna's right whimpered and backed a few steps back. Anna stood still waiting for them to make a move. When none came, she got impatient. A scowl came upon her face as she said,"Oh, come on. At least make this fun for me."

"You bitch! You killed my brothers at Jasont! i remember your face you monster!" the one in the middle and oldest looking said. His face contorted with anger as he moved forward, bringing his shield up.

"She's one of those Wolves the Nahti Emperor is hunting! Maybe we can turn her head in for a nice bounty." The one on the right said, a devilish grin overtaking his facial features. His comrades seemed to feed off his rage and stood by his side, bringing their swords up to the ready. Anna smiled before she launched into motion.

First, she charged straight at the one in the center, not deviating until the last few steps. She quickly changed to target the soldier on the left by going against the soldiers expectations and swinging it into the middle's midsection. She used the recoil of the strike to aid her sudden direction change and brought the sword around with her, plunging it hilt deep into the left's chest. He fell to his knees, the sword still in Anna's grip, but when she saw the soldier who had been on the right move to strike a blow with his sword, she forgot about it, spinning around to block the incoming blade with her gauntlets. When she tried to move them from the vertical equal sign that she had blocked the blow with, they didn't budge. The sword had become notched into the two pieces of armor, rendering her near immobile in a low, almost kneeling, position.

Instead of give up, however, she did as she was trained; she fought by whatever means necessary. She twisted left, wrenching the blade from the man's hands and she charged him, pushing her upraised arms towards him and the blade that the two remaining soldiers thought unusable to his neck. When his back hit the ground and she had straddled his torso, she moved her arms quickly to the right, effectively slashing the man's throat open. Blood spewed up, splattering over her face. When she stood, she could hear the final soldier breathing heavily behind his shield with his broadsword raised into a defensive stance. Anna's frustration boiled over as she stood up off the body and forcefully parted her arms, feeling the metal vibrate as the blade came free.

She grabbed the hilt of her sword that was still stuck through the dead soldier's body and kicked his carcass back, pulling it out free from his flesh and bone. She flicked the small string of blood that dripped off its end and started pacing towards the only remaining man that stood against her. He stood still, not moving. He instead only shook in fear as the woman with two blades in her hands approached.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stopped a few feet in front of him. "Wh-.. Aren't you gonna finish me off?!"

She didn't speak, but only stared at him in contempt. Instead, she turned the claimed sword in her hands upside down and plunged it into the ground and walked away, leaving the lone soldier to his thoughts. _What the hell.._ He thought while she walked away towards a river with rushing water that's sound was just reaching his ears.

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 **A/N There are also a few stories on there that i'm looking forward to posting like this one. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes, huh? Oh! i am glad to announce that a new chapter is soon coming to The Nuclear Winter! I'm going to start making it's chapters longer so you guys don't have to wait for content as long as you do.. thank you for your patience with me! As always, fav if you liked it, follow if you wanna get notified when i update, and please please oh please leave a review! haha I always love reviews, bad or good. Hope you guys n gals enjoyed it!**


	6. Chapter 6

The leaves beneath Anna's feet crunched as she jogged to where she was supposed to meet the group. When Anna did not see them she started sprinting to edge of the river, only to bump into Queen Elsa, herself.

"Oof!" they both said as they crashed into each other. Anna had stumbled a couple steps back, but the queen had backed up dangerously close to the river's rushing waters. Anna reached out when the Queen's foot had slipped halfway over the edge and pulled her to safety.

"I can handle myself," Elsa snapped, brushing off her dress anxiously.

Anna bit back her annoyance at the Queen's attitude, but quickly reminded herself of who she was dealing with. A Queen who just escaped a death squad. Luckily, Anna had gotten there before the killing had started. Anna now lead the group away from the mansion, and pursuing soldiers, down a path she knew would eventually connect to a road that ran through the area. Anna had walked casually with the group, between them and the steep cliff that doubled as the edge of the path.

The little girl with the raven black hair from earlier had separated from her peers at the center of the group and now walked beside Anna. Anna glanced to her side. She could tell the girl had more than a few things on her mind. It was in the way the girl fiddled with her fingers and peeked up at Anna when the girl thought she wasn't looking.

"What is it, pup?" the redhead asked, placing a gloved hand on the girls back as an act of comfort.

The girl had become less distraught since their escape and had dried her eyes, which were now fixated on the ground. "You killed all those guys back there, right?" she asked.

Anna nodded once, looking to the child's eyes that were now gazing at her.

"Did you have to?" the girl asked, looking up to Anna with some emotion tied between hope and fear.

Anna's face hardened slightly and she looked forward to the path ahead. "Yes," she said, "or they would have come after all of you. They were bad men and they would've done really bad things to you and the others. So yeah, I had to." She looked back to the girl, the corners of her lips twitching up. "I let one live, though."

"You did?" the girl asked. Anna nodded at her. "But why? Will he come after us again?"

"He might," Anna allows, "but if he does, he knows he won't be getting away again. If anybody touches any of you, I'll rip them in two."

The girl's face scrunched up. "What about all the blood and stuff?" she asked. "It's just so," she shivered,"ew."

Anna chuckled slightly and replied, "Nothing some soap and hot water can't get off."

"Oh," the girl murmured, and went back to twiddling her fingers. "Do you think you could show me how?"

"How to what? Use a sword?" Anna asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Mhm," the girl hums. "I want to protect the Queen, like you!" The little girl's face lit up with a spark of excitement.

"We'll see," Anna said. "If we have time on our journey to your new home, then yes, I will be happy to show you. But we're gonna use sticks, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Yay! This is gonna be fun! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The girl squealed, and skipped a few paces before she turned back to face the older woman. "My names Peyton!" she said, looking at the redhead as she walked backwards down the path. "What about you?"

"My name is Anna," Anna replied, and smiled a little.

"Anna," Peyton said, testing it on her tongue. "You have a very pretty name, Anna."

Anna let a full smile spread across her cheeks. "Thank you, Peyton. Your's is beautiful, as well. I've never heard it before, and I've been almost everywhere!"

"Wow! Wait, doesn't that make it unik?" Peyton asked.

"Unik?" Anna questioned.

"Yeah! It means there's only one in the whole wide world!" the little girl said, spreading her arms out wide.

"Oh, you mean unique?" Anna asked.

"Yes, that's what I meant!" Peyton said.

Anna giggled, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder as they walked.

Anna didn't notice the Queen eavesdropping on the two as they interacted. Peyton had always been the quiet one, and it was strange seeing her open up to a total stranger. She let herself smile when she saw the grin on Peyton's face. Not only that, but the one on the stranger's face as well.

Anna stopped the group when they finally got to the road. She brought them into the edge of the woods that overlooked the cobblestone path and told them to stay low and out of sight as she walked to the center of the road. The group watched as she put her hand up to her mouth and whistled. She stood still, out in the middle of the road, waiting for something to happen. Moments later, hooves could be heard on the road and finally, her horse came into view. She smiled as it slowed and stopped in front of her.

"Hey, boy." She raised her hand to his forehead and turned to the group, waving them out to her. They all ran out to her. The kids were first, wanting to pet the 'pony,' as they called him. The ladies followed, trailed by the Queen who held her arm nervously while eyeing the animal's owner. Anna reached under Peyton's arms and lifted her up onto her horse, and as she first sat atop his back, her eyes grew wide. Anna then put a second and third child behind, the three youngest, behind her and drew the reigns over the horse's head to lead him from the front. Elsa had her reservations about allowing the children on an animal she didn't know was domesticated. For all she knew, this was a mustang from the Western Plains and Anna was leading them to a trap. _If she was leading us to a trap, do you really think she would kill her own men?_ Her mind raged against itself. _Well, no, but-_

 _But nothing! She's helping you, get over it._ Elsa sighed and stood next to Anna who was still smiling at Peyton as she showed the little girl how the reins worked.

Anna took notice of the Queen's presence almost immediately, turning to her with a small smile on her lips.

Elsa's face turned pink as she looked away, avoiding eye contact. "So where do we go now?"

Anna's smile fell and her brow furrowed slightly. "I actually hadn't thought of that. Give me a min-"

"Wait, you don't have a plan? I thought you were here to rescue us!" Elsa said, distressed.

Anna's eyes fell to the ground and she shifted her weight onto one foot. "Actually, I need to talk to you about that. But not here. Later, okay?" Anna looked up to the Queen's eyes, which looked worried. As soon as their eyes locked together, the feeling looked as if it disappeared. "I know where to go, okay? You can trust me." A corner of her lips raised.

The Queen sighed, closing her eyes for a moment and opened them, looking back to the redhead with hope glimmering in her eyes. "Okay."

Anna nodded and took the reins and turned the horse around, facing West. As she started walking, she turned to her left to see the Queen. _Elsa_ , she thought. _Too beautiful for words._ The blonde noticed and grinned, her cheeks turning an almost unnoticeable pink. Anna smiled back and turned to look back at Peyton who was laughing as the horse swayed her from side to side as it walked. She returned the smile and went back to leading the horse. She knew where to go now. It was the last place the King would look and if he ever found out, she knew the area better than anyone. They would be safe there. _Home._

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 **Been a while! Sorry i havent updated this story in a long time. I know alot of people like it, it's just my brain has kind of been weird lately. I think im back on track with everything now. Hopefully, you will have seen i updated all my other stories as well, so go and check them out! Who knows, you might like them! Hope this is enough until i get more time to myself.. As always, Favorite if you enjoyed, Follow if you want more, and leave a review telling me your thoughts, emotions, comments, questions or quiries etc.. Thanks guys!**


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